Consumer Briefs / Food Safety

New labels to specify origins

Shoppers will have more information about where their food comes from under a new policy starting Monday.

Labels on most fresh meats, some fruits, vegetables and other foods will now list where the food originated. In the case of meats, some labels will list where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered.

Food safety groups have long lobbied for the policy, which was enacted by Congress as part of a wide-ranging farm bill last year.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last month asked the meat industry to go beyond the new policy, which was written by the Bush administration, to be even more specific about where an animal was born, raised and slaughtered.